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A Yorkshire mountain rescue team has urged people to take care of their mental health amid fears coronavirus lockdown could see more people go missing.

Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue volunteer Ian Hugill said there are concerns that as the necessary measures to tackle coronavirus continue, and people with mental health issues are alone for longer, there could be an increase in disappearances and, potentially, suicides.

Ian added that the members are still only being expected to carry out their "primary roles" and have not received any call outs since the lockdown was put in place last Monday.

He said: "We work in two areas: recovering people when the ambulance or police have not got the equipment and searches to find people."

He added they are expecting calls to go down due to the government's lock down measures urging people not to go out unnecessarily and said he was relieved that they hadn't received any call outs since the lockdown was put in place.

However, he raised concerns about the impact of social distancing measures on mental health.

He said: "Of greater concern for us is the mental health of people at these difficult times and those people who leave home intent to self-harm or worse. We envisage that over the next few months we will see such search incidents increasing.

"The strong message here is that we all need to conscious of our own mental health and that of our immediate family."

Where to get help if you're struggling

You don't have to suffer in silence if you're struggling with your mental health. Here are some groups you can contact when you need help.

Students Against Depression: A website for students who are depressed, have low mood, or are suicidal. Click here to visit

Bullying UK: A website for both children and adults affected by bullying. Click here

Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): For young men who are feeling unhappy. There's a website and a helpline: 0800 58 58 58

MindOut: Provide support and advice on mental health for members of LGBTQ communities. Phone 01273 234839

The rescue team, made up of dozens of volunteers, has increased precautions such as providing additional PPE equipment for its members to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The team itself are enacting the social distancing guidelines by limiting travel to one member per vehicle and are pushing to regularly clean and stopped all face-to-face training and meetings.

Asked what message he had for the public, he said: "It's a clear message. By all means go out and exercise but exercise from home. Don't go into the Moors, the Dales or mountains. You will be putting yourself in risk of injury but those who would have to go out and rescue you are putting themselves at risk too.

"The countryside will still be there when this is over but for now stay at home."

The rescue team is requesting support to help with its £45,000 per annum costs

The rescue team recently received hand sanitiser from a York gin distillery which has swapped from making gin to making hand sanitizer for key workers.

Mr Hugill said: "The worry is that we could be dealing with individuals who are infected with Covid-19 and everywhere we go there is not regular access to soap or water.

"But the sanitiser provided to us now is great. It means we can sanitise our hands whilst searching."

Another worry the rescue team has had is that a number of their fundraisers have had to be cancelled from the coming weeks and months.

Mr Hugill said: "It costs us in the order of £45,000 per annum to keep the team operational and we receive no direct funding. Just about all of our income streams such as collecting tins in shops, street collections, challenge events and donations from talks have dried up.

"Whilst we're a well-managed charity we don't want to dig too deep in our reserves. We are conscious that times are hard for everyone but if people have pennies to spare please give them to make sure these teams are still here when this is over."